The actress was announced Wednesday morning as Selina Kyle (Catwoman) in "The Dark Knight Rises," as per our sister blog Hero Complex.(The studio also confirmed that Thomas Hardy would play villain Bane.)

The Hathaway move fits with Nolan's pattern of casting -- while other big female parts around town have lately gone to up-and-comers and relative unknowns (see: Rooney Mara in the remake of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"), Nolan has preferred actresses with pedigrees.

It's a major transition for Hathaway, who started out as a tween queen then transitioned to increasingly dramatic parts, first slightly in "The Devil Wears Prada" and then intensely in "Rachel Getting Married." Now she adds summer blockbuster to her list. (We won't mention "Havoc.") Oh, and there's the Oscar hosting gig next month. If Nolan is nominated for a directing Oscar for "Inception," get ready for the Catwoman jokes.

It's hard to bet against Nolan at this point, but it does feel like he's recycling elements from past Bat-movies and threatening to overwhelm us with new characters. Does Batman really have to fall in love AND save the day? He balanced two villains well in "The Dark Knight," but consider "Iron Man 2" as the latest example of a superhero flick with too many characters.

I think there's too much pressure from the executives at Warner Brothers. They're pulling some switches and levers to get things to be the way they want them to be.
Nolan isn't faring well in terms of choosing female leads for these Batman movies. And I'm not impressed by his choice of Hathaway.